Mad About Shanghai

View From The Top : Hangzhou Bay Bridge

See that thin white line across the photo? That is actually the Hangzhou Bay Bridge. I took this on one of my flights towards Shanghai. I guess the view must be quite spectacular as you drive across.

This is one of the longest trans oceanic bridge in the world and took four years to build. The bridge shortened the highway travel distance between Ningbo and Shanghai from 400 km to 280 km and reduced travel time from 4 to 2.5 hours.

Blue and Cloudy Skies Over Shanghai

It is not every day in Shanghai that you see blue skies and clouds over Shanghai. To top it off, a formation of aligned clouds as well.

Regine sent me this captured from her room:

Savour the moment!

One of My Favourite Cafe at Jin Hui Road

Walking past Jin Hui Road, I realised that one of my favourite cafe in Shanghai has changed name. From "Dio Cafe" to "LTC Coffee".

 Anyone been there before?

You can look at a post I wrote about the cafe 5 years ago in 2007 here.

Two New Art Museums Opens in Shanghai

Two new art museums recently opened at the site of the Shanghai World Expo 2010,in a bid to further liven up the arts scene in this vibrant city.

The China Art Museum is intended to be the premier location for modern art in not only Shanghai or China but in the world. The "scale and configuration"  rivals the top art museums in the world. It resides in the former China Pavilion at the expo ground, the star pavilion then.

The focus of the museum would be on Chinese art. Yes.They got it right this time .I remembered when I went there about a year ago, there was Picasso exhibition inside the China Pavilion which I thought was a bit odd. Isn't the former China Pavilion suppose to showcase all things good about China instead of a "foreign" exhitbit?

The second museum also opens at the same expo ground. The Power Station of Art gets its name from the former power station building that was used for the expo. Its focus would be on contemporary art and would be home to the annual Shanghai Art Festival.

For those of you that cannot get enough from these two art establishments, do visit Moganshan Road too!

The City Brand Rankings

I share with you this chart from OglivyPR and PublicAffairsAsia.

Apparently, the two organisations polled a pool of respondents to rank 16 Asian cities in terms of their positive brand attributes. Respondents were asked questions on transport, infrastructure, political stability, crime rate, economic growth, culture, environment, sanitation and healthcare, amongst others to derive the ranking.

Shanghai actually topped Seoul and Osaka in this survey.

Any thoughts on this ranking? Do you agree? I wonder why Taipei is excluded.

Survey chart by: OglivyPR and PublicAffairsAsia

Meeting Point in Shanghai - Jing An

For those of you residing out of Shanghai, do you know where this place is?

This is one of the most common meeting point (at least for me) when meeting up with friends for after work dinner, with friends that have never been to Shanghai or with net friends that you have never met before.

Why? Prime reason is because this place is relatively central and its not difficult to look for entertainment, food or coffee a few minutes walk from there. Moreover, this structure is unique and quite big so you would not have to worry about people not getting to the right place, missing your description or getting lost.

Where? Just outside Jing An metro station.

So next time you are thinking of where to meet your friend, try here.

Security Checks in Shanghai Metro Stations

Whenever I take the metro in Shanghai, and whenever I was prompted to drop my bag into the X ray scanners, I will always comply. I guess we should all play a part in making public transportation safer.

I did not know this "security measure" is entirely optional.

It was on a cool night after hot pot that Grace and myself decided to go to a wine bar for some drinks. Instead of taking the taxi, we decided to take the metro instead.

At the station we were prompted this time to drop out bags into the X ray scanner. Just as I was about to unsling my bag from my shoulder, Grace told me to "move on". I did not know what she meant but I followed her instructions anyway. Nobody stopped us and nobody penalised us for not complying to security measures too.

I looked back. Many others are doing the same, simply ignoring the metro security personnel. The bag scan is entirely optional and voluntary it seems.

 Safer public transportation? For show it seems.

Moon Beijing and Shanghai (2nd Edition)

I reviewed the first edition of Moon Beijing and Shanghai some years ago (back in 2009 in fact), The book is a very useful guide to these two bustling cities of China. Whether you have lived in these cities for a number of years or a first timer, you would have found the guide very handy in helping you explore places you probably never heard of or thought of.

The book has since undergone an update to keep up with the rapid changes in the two cities.

You can know more and make a purchase of the book at this link:

http://moon.com/books/moon-handbooks/moon-beijing-shanghai-second-edition

I leave you with some very useful tip below from the author of the book herself, Susan Gordon.

If you only have a very short weekend in Beijing, what would you do? 

Friday

1. Start the day on Financial Street—a modern business thoroughfare that contains many company headquarters, banks and luxury hotels. Admire the shiny high-rises that form Beijing’s commercial heartland.

2. Take some well-earned time out with a massage at the Oriental Taipan.

3. For lunch with clients or co-workers, take them to the CourtYard for a high-end European meal overlooking the old Imperial city.

4. After lunch, stroll around the nearby Forbidden City—one of the historic city’s highlights—where emperors took care of business for several dynasties.

5. Stop off at the Beijing Centre for the Arts to check out the capital’s cultural scene.

6. For dinner, impress clients and guests with fine French cuisine at Maison Boulud—one of Beijing’s best restaurants.

7. Stop at Glen for a whisky nightcap before heading to your hotel to catch up on emails before calling it a night.

Saturday

8. Start the morning in historic Ritan Park, where elderly city folk practice tai chi.

9. Join Beijing’s hip, young creative types and young businesspeople at the Trends Lounge bookshop and café.

10. Spend some time in the Central Business District admiring the unusual contemporary architecture of the New CCTV Tower designed by Rem Koolhas and Ole Scheeren.

11. Head to Sanlitun to stock up on gifts for family and co-workers back home at the designer shops and boutiques of Sanlitun Village.

12. For dinner, explore China’s culinary tradition with a hint of elegance at Fat Duck, the Renaissance Capital Hotel’s Beijing duck restaurant.

13. Round off dinner with a drink at Atmosphere—the city’s highest bar.

 Sunday

14. Enjoy a chilled-out Western-style breakfast at Grandma’s Kitchen.

15. Explore Beijing’s famous and infamous Tian’anmen Square, and marvel at the sheer scale of China’s largest public plaza.

16. Head to the Legation Quarter to see the various places from which Beijing has been ruled over the years, through Imperial times to the colonial era and into Communism.

17. Have lunch at Ristorante Sadler in the luxurious Chi’enmen 23 development.

18. Get to know the history and culture of the People’s Republic with a trip to the National Museum.

19. Treat clients to a final dinner at Domus for quality home-cooked European dishes inside a renovated historical building.

20. Have a cocktail at chic XIU lounge before heading back to the hotel or the airport.

Ta da. Thats twenty things for you.

Cute Hello Kitty Car Spotted

Spotted this cute car near Wu Zhong Road on the way to meet Jennifer for afternoon tea.

Oh by the way, in case you are wondering, RON 93 and RON97 are the two grades of petrol offered in China.

Shanghai F1 Grand Prix 2012

This week is F1 week in Shanghai!

From 13 to 15 April, all the frenzy and action would revolve around the 4.51 km track.

I bring you some exclusive photos from the Mercedes F1 team:

Post race update : Nico Rosberg won it for Mercedes in Shanghai! It was a long long time since Mercedes last won as an outright team.